I was looking for a recent picture of myself to use as a profile picture and found this one taken just a few weeks ago in a wonderful natural setting. One big problem though – I think I looked a bit sickly without any lipstick!

So, I used the new ‘Edit in Creative Kit’ feature (the reincarnation of Picnik) to add a bit of color to my lips. Then I did an I’m Feeling Lucky, and used Tuning to warm the color tones a bit. (See member Tutorial Video: Tuning) Now I’m much happier with the picture.

Ok, I confess, as long as I was in Creative Kit, I did a little teeth whitening, and cleared up the whites of my eyes a bit too. Hope I didn’t overdo it?

So, how is this done? First you open your picture in Picasa, just like any other time you want to edit a picture (see member tutorial Videos: Single Picture View, Basic Edits) Then, from the first tab of editing features, click on ‘Edit in Creative Kit.’ Creative Kit is all on the web, so you will need an internet connection for this to work. When you click that button, it will copy your picture up to the web so it can be edited in Creative Kit. When you’ve finished, you will have the option to save it in place on your computer, or to save a copy on your computer. Once a photo has been edited with Creative Kit, and saved, you can’t Undo like when you edit in Picasa on your computer. (See member Tutorial Video: How Picasa Handles Edits)

Once you’re in Creative Kit, you’ll find the ‘FacePaint’ option on the ‘Decorate’ tab. To add the lipstick, click the red color, adjust your brush size so it’s small enough to not color outside the lines of your lips. The key to making it look natural is to increase the Fade (transparency) – I made it about 60%. Now just drag across your lips, you’ll see the red color be applied. If you don’t like it, you can click Cancel and try again. You probably also want to increase the magnification of the photo while you’re painting on it. Just drag the zoom slider in the lower right corner of the screen.

Then, I repeated the process with the white color on my teeth and eyes. When you’re done, click ‘Save to Picasa’ in the upper right.

This is fun, but realize that it’s not full-featured. The only colors available are the ones you see. If you want more of what was available in the original Picnik – you will find that now at www.PicMonkey.com

This tip brought to you by Geeks on Tour

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